NORFOLK, Va. - No. 15 Old Dominion (8-6, 4-1 Big East) defeated William & Mary (6-8, 2-1 CAA) by a 4-0 final Friday night from the L.R. Hill Complex.
The ODU field hockey team won their seventh game in a row and looked as sharpe as ever on both offense and defense. They extended their shutout streak to five and received a shot from nine different players. With the win Old Dominion University picked up its first win against William & Mary and ten points in the Optima Health Challenge.
Old Dominion head coach Andrew Griffiths with his thoughts on tonight's team performance, "I thought it was a very professional performance from our team. We were very tough defensively and did not allow a single penalty corner in the game. We attacked from different angles and created a lot of chances. I was particulary pleased with how disciplined we were in the first half. William & Mary's goalkeepers were playing great but we didn't get frustrated, just kept getting into good positions, and we got the goal we needed at the end of the half."
The Lady Monarchs field hockey team kept firing shots on goal in the first half, but could not find the back of the net. ODU ended up waiting after the 35 minutes to finally put the first goal on the board. The team drew a corner after time expired and junior forward Rosario Villagra gave ODU the spark they needed when she magically placed a redirected shot on goal where William & Mary goalkeeper Cate Johnson finally could not stop and found its way for a goal, which gave Old Dominion the critical 1-0 lead to end the first half. Tribe keeper Johnson would not return after the first half and was replaced by Meredith Savage.
In the second half, ODU received their second goal of the night from Villagra who tipped in an attempted shot from Nicole Goff to give ODU a 2-0 lead. Emily Harting took a corner and scored for the Lady Monarchs at 53:47 with an assist going to Villagra. ODU was not done as Harting took a penalty shot for the team at 57:55 and scored to give Old Dominion the 4-0 win.
ODU outshot the Tribe 20-5 and had 13 penalty corners to the Tribe zero. ODU remained defensively sound after shuting out their fifth straight opponent, which ties the 2007 Lady Monarchs. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Megan Hept made a spectacular save to keep the game in reach for ODU. Hept finished with two saves, received her eighth win on the year and fifth consecutive shutout. Tribe keeper Johnson picked up the loss while saving five on the night. Savage finished with two saves.
ODU 1-3=4
W&M 0-0=0
35:00 ODU Rosario Villagra (10)
45:47 ODU Rosario Villagra (11) from Nicole Goff
53:47 ODU Emily Harting (4) from Rosario Villagra
57:55 ODU Emily Harting (5) on a penalty shot
Shots: ODU (20), William & Mary (5)
Corners: ODU (13), William & Mary (0)
Saves: ODU (3), William & Mary (7)
Three stars:
#3 Star ODU M Sarah Breen
- Registered five shots and two shots on goal.
#2 Star ODU B Emily Harting
-Harting gave ODU a much needed lift in the second half scoring two goals (one coming on the penalty shot) with all three of her shots on goal.
#1 Star ODU F Rosario Villagra
-Scored an amazing goal with no time left in the first half off a corner. Also added the second goal of the game and added an assist with three shots on the night.
*Old Dominion faces No. 1 Maryland on the road this Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
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